Archive for December, 2009

It all sounds a bit too good to be true, just as the Daily Mail said, however doctors have found a way to grow, yes grow, your own facelift while losing excess fat and weight from your problem areas.

The procedure, which costs around £7,500, uses the body’s own stem cells and the patient literally grows their own facelift in the six to eighteen months after having the procedure.

This is a great advancement in the medical world as it extracts the stem cells present in our fat stores from elsewhere in the body, then under local anaesthetic, they are injected into the face for a complete facial rejuvenation that progresses naturally over time AND without any invasive surgery. Just a bit of discomfort and temporary bruising.

Great, if you’ve got this kind of money just lying around. And then you have to find that money again several years later when the effects wear off. But you have to admit it’s a fantastic breakthrough.

There are non-surgical alternatives too to this expensive anti-aging treatment, which don’t involve any ‘down time’ afterwards. Mesotherapy offers a fantastic fat reduction technique, which again is temporary, but costs much less than the ‘grow-your-own’ treatment. Fat reduction starts from around £75 per treatment when booked as a series of 7 treatments (this is about the number of treatments you will need to get an impressive result on that tummy and those hips).

For the face, IPL, microdermabrasion and skin peels are all very effective at rejuvenating the skin naturally and non-surgically. SkinGym promises younger, wrinkle-free skin in 40 days, with continued treatments if you don’t see an improvement. SkinGym costs from £1,250 – £1,500 – still quite expensive, but again cheaper than the grow-your-own.

Scientists at the University of Toronto believe they may have worked out the dimensions for the ‘perfect face’.

Yes, apparently the most attractive female face depends on the measurements between the eyes, ears and mouth, with singer Shania Twain coming out tops in celeb-land.

The vertical distance between the eyes and mouth should be 36% of the overall length of her face, from hairline to chin. The horizontal distance between a woman’s pupils should then be 46% of the width of her face from ear to ear.

So we have a question… what if we don’t measure up? Are these scientists saying that we are not beautiful?! If so, we beg differ. Many of our clients come into our clinic seeking the perfect complexion, and long to achieve perfection. But we are strong believers in the fact that everyone is attractive in their own right, and by offering expert skin and body treatments, we can help people achieve their idea of perfection with natural, pain-free cosmetic treatments.

We say, take no notice of the University of Toronto! If we all looked the same, that would be incredibly boring and what one person finds attractive, someone else might not.

700 people have complained about an advert for anti-ageing cream that portrayed Twiggy as a wrinkle-free sixty-something, before Proctor and Gamble held its hands up and admitted to a spot of airbrushing.

We’ve blogged a lot about misleading adverts recently, commenting on how lying adverts ‘con’ consumers and distort their perceptions of beauty.

Twiggy is a beautiful woman (and doesn’t need any airbrushing), however there’s no-doubt that she battles with the bathroom mirror every morning wondering how she can diminish her fine lines and wrinkles – just like many other women her age!

If you’re worried about wasting your money on useless creams (which have to be advertsied with enhanced images to be successful) but can’t quite afford a surgical facelift, why not think about a non-surgical facelift? Our expert from SkinGenesis, Peter Beard explains what one is here.

If that doesn’t attract you however, you could think about IPL, microdermabrasion or skin peels – which all have an amazing rejuvenating effect when provided as part of a programme of skin treatments. SkinGym is a firm favourite with our clients, which takes 40 days, or try SkinSpa if you want a quick refreshing face fix!

Trinny and Susannah have been on the prowl again, telling nearly 100 single girls What Not to Wear if you’re looking for love.

While those two fashion gurus may be best placed to tell you how you should be filling your wardrobe, there’s no better people than us at SkinGenesis to tell you how to achieve perfect skin in a bid to bag ‘the one’ this Christmas!

If adult acne is holding you back, microdermabrasion, skin peels or IPL might be in order. If you’re worried about wrinkles and fine lines you might want to consider SkinGym. Or just feeling a bit dull and want to be refreshed? Try SkinSpa!

The last thing you need with Chrsitmas parties round the corner is for your skin to feel chapped, dry and sore, but what can you really do to protect your face, hands and body that doesn’t cost the earth?

Our skin guru, Peter Beard gives his five tops tips on looking and feeling your best this winter:

“In the warmer months we tend to feel more youthful and alive; the sun encourages the feel-good hormone serotonin to flourish, which in turn makes us feel happier. Winter is a little more depressing and with hurried lifestyles being ever more prevalent these days, it’s easy to let your skin care routine fall by the wayside.

“Whilst engaging in gentle exercise, drinking plenty of water and cleansing and moisturising every day is important, we like to provide our clients with a few extra, more in-depth tips to ensure that their skin is prepared for the winter.”

1. Vitamins and minerals you need more of
“Your skin is the facade of what is going on inside the body and problems manifest in the form of skin complaints such as acne, wrinkles and dry skin. For skin to look more youthful and radiant and to be on top form, you need to ensure that you are getting enough vitamin C, A and E.”

2. Dead cells are the culprits of many skin crimes
“Our skin renews itself every 28 days, shedding its old dead skin cells to make way for a fresher new layer. To make the most of this natural process it is important to practice a good skin care routine. Taking the time to run a gentle exfoliating glove across the face and body once to twice a week will ensure that those pesky dead cells are kept at bay. Investing in a quality daily exfoliating face wash will also have the desired effect.”

3. Call in the professionals
“Sometimes, no matter how hard we try to maintain our skin, it’s often not enough and we simply resort to ‘putting up’ with skin complaints when there really is no need. It’s times like this when it is wise to call in the professionals.

“Having spent years studying and treating people’s skin, professional medi-spa skin clinics can give you the expert advice needed to achieve beautiful skin whatever the season. Alternative skin treatments have come on leaps and bounds in the last decade, with microdermabrasion, IPL and skin peels being clear front-runners in the industry.”

4. Heating versus freezing, both play havoc on the skin
“Constantly moving from one extreme to another can send our skin into overdrive and as people turn up the heating to full power in their homes, walking in from the freezing outdoors can be somewhat of a shock to the system. As we have no control over Mother Nature as to how cold it will be outside, to prevent outbreaks and chapped skin try to increase the central heating inside gradually to give the skin time to adapt to the change of environment.”

5. Refresh your outlook on this season
“Finally a tip that is not widely advocated: start to love winter! Everyone tends to have negative thoughts about winter, which only leads to more negativity in other areas of your life. Try to seek out the positives about winter – snowfall, cosy nights, festive events and nature. Buy a good brolly to avoid the rain, wrap up warm and go out and have fun! A positive attitude will encourage you to be more active, maintain a healthy lifestyle and will see you – and your skin – ready for anything.”

Christmas is drawing nearer and the party season is upon us! As women across the UK dig to back of their wardrobes to see which sparkly number they can revive and customise with new glitzy accessories and shoes, many people don’t stop to think about getting their skin shape – which let’s face it, is the first thing people will look at before your outfit.

With the harsh winter weather, it’s easy to let your facial skin become dry and chapped, and its not until the night before a big party that you realise you should have taken action to give yourself a glow!

But fear not. At this early stage of December, you still have time to buff and polish the skin to perfection with the SkinSpa menu.

SkinSpa provides single-session treatments from which you can pick and choose skin treatments that will cleanse, rejuvenate and tone the skin, leaving you looking radiant.

No need to start treatments weeks in advance. SkinSpa has been designed to provide one-off visit treatments in the clinic for convenience, whilst gaining all the benefits of our traditional skin treatment programmes.